When
a good friend referred to Pat Robertson's call to assassinate Venezuelan
president, Hugo Chavez, as a "declaration of a fatwah on a president"
I laughed, appreciative of the irony.

In the minutes since
then, however, I've had to agree that the words are less than a hair's
width from total accuracy. What the founder of the Christian Coalition
of America and former Republican presidential candidate said to the
widely viewed "700 Club" was precisely this: "You know,
I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he [referring
to Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really
ought to go ahead and do it.

"It's a whole
lot cheaper than starting a war," the globally-viewed televangelist
continued, "... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Ah, there you have
it. Oil shipments. There are often those oil shipments lurking behind
the loud cry to defend America. We do have to remember during the friction
between Venezuela and the U.S. that Venezuela, as the fifth largest
oil exporter in the world, pumps 3.1 million barrels a day, over half
of it consumed by the United States. Chavez is looking for other buyers,
but that's another story.

Besides, these few
words are not about Hugo Chavez, who cannot fit into a short paper,
but about the sheer hypocrisy of a man who has influenced millions of
Americans who, in turn, have listened to their religious leaders who
told them to vote for George Bush and who have then supported the strange
mantra that "Bush is a man of God."

It wasn't a brief
slip of the tongue. Robertson was apparently wound up and ready to go
(as long as he didn't have to be in the physical line of fire). He went
on: "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one,
you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some
of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

To stop the mass
exodus from our nation that would surely take place if good people thought
our leaders would embrace Robertson's ideas, I must add that the US
State Department said nothing to support Robertson this time, even announced
that his comments were "inappropriate" and did not reflect
the policy of the US. That doesn't, of course, mean that there are not
people in high places trying to find a way to spray weapons-grade cyanide
from Chavez' telephone into his eardrum.

Secretary of Defense
Donald H. Rumsfeld commented on the incident at a Pentagon news conference
by saying, "Our department doesn't do that kind of thing. It's
against the law." Perhaps the law has been re-written since the
1973 murder of Salvadore Allende, popularly elected president of Chile.

Venezuela didn't
take too well to Robertson's advice. Its vice president, Jose Vicente
Rangel, said the country is studying its legal options. "It's huge
hypocrisy to maintain this discourse against terrorism and at the same
time, in the heart of that country there are entirely terrorist statements
like those."

Rangel further and
importantly said that Robertson's comments "reveal that religious
fundamentalism is one of the great problems facing humanity in these
times."

It's hard to dispute
the vice president -- the Venezuelan one, I mean. How can you bow your
head in prayer, rant and rave about the need to get rid of terrorists,
and suggest we kill the president of a sovereign country, all in the
same airspace?

What comes to mind
at the moment is a bumper sticker I saw from someone opposing abortion.
"Just what is it about 'Thou shalt not kill' that you don't get?"

In dark moments,
I feel that we're pioneers trying to get from the beginning of the trip
to the end, and we suddenly find ourselves crouching near the fire,
surrounded by wolves. All around us are churchgoing people who wave
their flags and turn the tv to Robertson's '700 Club' and stand with
pre-war German Nazi posture (remember Hitler's Germany was "Christian")
to salute and say the Pledge of Allegiance, all touting their nationalistic
and Christian beliefs. But they are the same people who support the
administration's destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan. And when someone
with the clout of Pat Robertson tells them we need to get into the assassination
business in between battling terrorists who might swim ashore and take
Richmond and warding off the socialist armies of Latin America before
they finish building their recruitment offices, many of these people
are getting a sort of viagra through their feeding tubes.

In response to a
lot of outrage over Robertson's words, a spokeswoman for the Christian
Broadcasting Network told the BBC: "We are at a time of war (sic)
and Pat had war on his mind when he made the comments." I would
humbly suggest that Pat take his mind off war and consider his boss,
the Prince of Peace, when he speaks as a religious leader.

Fortunately, we
can hope that such venom as Robertson spouted on Monday will make some
of the viewers begin to question the powerful political bloc (the Christian
Coalition) that has contributed to the trip we have made to the precarious
cliff on which we are now perched.

Lest I sound anti-Christian
in any way, great kudos to all those Christians who actually include
the laws of Christ in their set of beliefs and who are writing and speaking
to condemn Robertson's words. One passed out a letter today, suggesting
that instead of trying to get the Ten Commandments posted in U.S. courthouses
and schools, Robertson would do better to spend his time READING them.

The world is filled
with true Christians, ones who read the bible instead of thumping it
with pre-selected passages extracted for their interpretations to fit
the moment. Those are the Christians who, I would hope, shut their eyes
sadly at Robertson's assurances that "We have the ability to take
him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability."

If I personally
had any love for Pat Robertson (I don't) and wanted to comfort him (I
don't), I'd pass
on the very possible assurance that the CIA already has a hundred drawing
boards set up with plans to take care of Mr. Chavez.
________________________

Leigh Saavedra,
writing poetry, fiction and political commentary for many years as Lisa
Walsh Thomas, is a veteran peace activist. She has authored two books,
the current one, "The Girl with Yellow Flowers in her Hair,"
available through http://www.whatIdidinthewar.com.
Leigh appreciates
comments at saavedra1979@yahoo.com.